These verses, the opening phrases of the Sermon on the Mount, hold some of the Bible’s most beautiful and best-loved poetry. Part of its beauty, though, lies in the fact that the meaning is not quite clear. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? What does it mean to “inherit the earth” or to be called “the children of God.” The fact that there are many possibilities causes us to linger over the phrases, pondering them.

Understood in the internal sense, these blessings show the spiritual states of the various people who could be receptive of the Lord and the new church he was launching. On a deeper level it shows that states within ourselves that can lead each of us to the Lord and to a deeper understanding of His truth today.

The “poor in spirit” are those who know little about spiritual things, but want to learn. Those that “mourn” are those who want to be good, but see no desire for good in their church. The “meek” are those who love to care for and serve others. To “hunger and thirst after righteousness” shows a desire to rise up, to learn about what’s good and to come to desire it.

The “merciful” are those who love their fellow people. The “pure in heart” are those who love only what is good. “Peacemakers” are those who are in harmony with the Lord, gaining knowledge from Him and wanting what He wants. And to be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” means acting out of love and care for others, even though you are condemned by others for it.

There’s something of a progression there, from those who simply want to learn to those who actively want to be good people to those who actually are good and acting out of love for others. None of it, though, describes those who are learned in the Jewish traditions, or even necessarily observant in terms of ritual; they are, rather, those who sense that it is possible to be a good person and are willing to make the effort.

And they are promised their rewards! The “kingdom of heaven” is the understanding the angels have of the Lord; “comfort” represents ideas that lead to the good of life; “inheriting the earth” is a state of loving others and being loved by them in return. The overall message is simple: If we truly wish to be good people, and are willing to let the Lord teach us how to be good people, we will end up filled with love and wisdom from Him. And that’s what we need to focus on: The desire to be good, and openness to ideas from the Lord. It’s not about ritual and intellectual “correctness”; it’s about ideas that lead us to be good.

But what of being reviled and persecuted? This depicts temptation, when the hells attack our newborn good desires and true understanding. They cause us to doubt our ability to be truly good and question the ideas that are leading us. And they can do it in many ways, reminding us of the fun we’ll be missing or reminding us of all the bad things we’ve ever done to render us hopeless. They will even attack the Bible and the ideas that come to us through it from the Lord; that’s represented by the idea that people also attacked the prophets.

These states, however, are blessed in their own way; only by battling these evils, which are rooted inside us, can we finally fully embrace the good life we have been striving for. That’s why it is pictured last, and that's why it leads to the “great reward” in heaven.

745. Now is come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ, signifies that now the Lord has power by His Divine truth to save those who are of His church, who receive Divine truth in heart and soul. This is evident from the signification of "salvation," as being to be saved; and from the signification of "power," as being to have ability, thus possibility (of which presently); from the signification of "kingdom," as being heaven and the church (See above, n. 48, 685); from the signification of "our God," as being the Lord in relation to His Divine; and from the signification of "the authority of His Christ," as being the efficacy of Divine truth, thus by means of Divine truth. That "the Christ" means the Lord in relation to Divine truth may be seen above (n. 684, 685); and that "authority" signifies, in reference to the Lord, the salvation of the human race, may be seen above n. 293; and that the Lord has power to save by means of His Divine truth (n. 333, 726); and because the Lord can save only those who receive Divine truth from Him with heart and soul, this too is signified. From this it is clear that "Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ," signifies that now the Lord has power by His Divine truth to save those who are of His church who receive Divine truth with heart and soul.

[2] It is said "who receive with heart and soul," meaning with love and faith, likewise with the will and understanding; for in the Word when "soul and heart" are both mentioned "soul" signifies faith, likewise understanding, and "heart" signifies love, likewise will; for soul [anima] means there in the ultimate sense the respiration of man, which is also called his "spirit" [or breath], and the verb animare means to respire; also when a man dies he is said "to give up the ghost" [emittere animam et spirituum]. Moreover, it is also from correspondence that "soul" signifies faith, also the understanding, and that "heart" signifies love, as also the will; for faith and understanding correspond to the breathing [animatio] or respiration of the lungs, and the love and will correspond to the motion and pulsation of the heart (on which correspondence see above, n. 167; and the Arcana Coelestia 2930, 3883-3896, 9050).

[3] "Now is come the salvation and the power of our God" signifies that the Lord is now able to save; so "power" here signifies to have ability, thus the possibility, because the Lord could not save those who were of His church before the dragon with his angels had been driven out, that is, separated from heaven. One who does not know the laws of Divine order might believe that the Lord can save anyone He pleases, thus the evil as well as the good; and for this reason some are of the opinion that in the end all who are in hell will be saved. But that no one can be saved by immediate mercy, but only by mediate, and that still it is from pure mercy, that those who receive Divine truth from the Lord in soul and heart are saved, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 521-527.

[4] This is also meant by these words in John:

His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God, to them that believe on His name; who were born not of bloods nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11-13).

"His own" who received Him not mean those who are of the church where the Word is, and to whom the Lord could be known through the Word; therefore those who were of the Jewish Church are here meant by "His own." That the Lord would "give to those that believe on His name power to become sons of God" signifies that He gives heaven to those ¹ who receive Divine truths from Him in soul and heart, or in faith and life; "to believe on His name" meaning to receive the Lord in faith and life, for "the name of the Lord" signifies everything by which He is worshiped; "sons of God" mean those who are regenerated by the Lord; "who are born not of bloods" signifies who have not falsified and adulterated the Word; "nor of the will of the flesh" signifies who are not in evils from what is their own [proprium]; "nor of the will of man" signifies who are not in falsities from what is their own [proprium], for the "will" signifies what is man's own [proprium], "flesh" signifies evil, and "man" [vir] signifies falsity; "but born of God" signifies those who have been regenerated by truths from the Word and by a life according to them. From this it can be seen that those who are not willing to be reformed and regenerated by the Lord, which is effected by the reception of Divine truth in faith and life, cannot be saved.

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